NBA

Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Jason Richardson sank five three-pointers and finished with 28 points, as the Phoenix Suns wrapped up their first round playoff series against Portland with a 99-90 victory in Game 6 at the Rose Garden.

The victory moved the third-seeded Suns into the Western Conference semifinals, where they will meet the seventh-seeded Spurs, starting Monday in Phoenix. San Antonio advanced earlier Thursday with a Game 6 win over Dallas.

The Spurs will be a familiar opponent for the Suns, who were beaten by San Antonio in a 2008 first-round matchup and a 2007 semifinal series. The Spurs have won four straight playoff series against Phoenix.

"There's great history between us and the Spurs over the past five, six years," said Amare Stoudemire, who had 22 points. "It's going to be a great matchup between us and also myself and Tim Duncan. We always take the challenge of playing against each other. So it's going to be another great challenge for us. The Spurs play well in the postseason."

Phoenix shot 12-of-23 from long distance and led by 16 in the third quarter before the Blazers came back to tie the game four minutes into the fourth. LaMarcus Aldridge made a free throw to make it a 76-76 game, but the Suns scored the next eight points and held on for the win.

Portland shot 11-of-23 from three-point range but only 38 percent overall, and in falling to the loss ended an injury-riddled 2009-10 in which centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla were lost for the year and star Brandon Roy suffered a late-season knee injury.

Roy had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and made a surprise return in Game 4, but Thursday scored just 14 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Martell Webster and Rudy Fernandez had 19 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench for the Blazers, who had never before lost a Game 6 at home.

"I hope it hurts, right now, for all of us," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "Even though we're without some guys and we had Brandon coming back, we still had a chance. This needs to hurt. We need to get a grasp on really how this feels, because next year at this time we want to be moving on to the next round."

Webster and Fernandez combined to go 8-of-10 from three-point range and were at the fore of Portland's fourth-quarter comeback. Webster opened the period with a three and Fernandez followed suit, immediately getting the Blazers within 74-71. Webster then made 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled on a shot from beyond the arc.

Following Aldridge's free throw -- his 16th and last point of the game -- the Suns took control.

Stoudemire got into the lane for a bucket, and after Jerryd Bayless had his shot blocked, Goran Dragic had his layup attempt bounce in. Portland came up empty on a long possession, and Stoudemire found Richardson for a layup on two consecutive Phoenix touches. The second, a quick lay-in following a deft pass in the lane, pushed the Suns' lead to 84-76 with 5:22 left, and Portland never recovered.

After Steve Nash drained a long, off-balance three from the top of the arc with 2:34 to play, Stoudemire emphatically dunked to make it a 94-82 contest and the Suns cruised from there.

Nash finished with 10 points, six assists and seven turnovers, and played a little under 30 minutes as he struggled with a strained hip he suffered before Game 2.

"I just wanted to keep the rhythm and the energy that our team had going, and I was lucky enough to make a couple plays for us, but my teammates deserve all the credit in the world," Nash said.

Richardson scored 14 of his points in the first quarter to help the Suns to a 24-17 advantage, and Phoenix scored six of the final seven points of the half to go into the break with a 53-41 lead.

Two Stoudemire free throws with 3:43 left in the third quarter had Phoenix up 66-50, but Roy followed with a three-point play to spark a 15-3 run. Webster ended it with back-to-back threes, which got the Blazers within four.

However, Jared Dudley had the final five points of the quarter to put the Suns ahead 74-65 moving to the fourth.